Tricolor misses two kicks while the Paraguayan team converts all
Fluminense did not know how to maintain the advantage it had built in Rio de Janeiro and is the first Brazilian club to bid farewell to the Copa Libertadores. Tricolor fell in the third preliminary stage of the tournament after being defeated by Olimpia at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asunción. The Paraguayan team beat the Carioca team 2-0 – goals from Recalde and Paiva – in regulation time and managed to qualify for the group stage in penalty kicks by winning 4-1, with goalkeeper Gastón catching two penalties.
With the result, the Paraguayan team advances to the group stage of Libertadores and now awaits the draw to know which key will fall. Fluminense will play in the Copa Sudamericana, which will have the group stage draw on March 25 (Friday).
The carioca team even gave the home owners a scare. David Braz appeared alone in the area, dominated in the chest and hit the goal. Referee Roberto Tobar, however, ruled it out, stating that the ball hit the defender’s arm. It is worth remembering that there is no VAR at this stage of the competition, entering only after the round of 16.
From then on, practically only Olimpia played. Fluminense gave the ball to the opponent and bet on defensive strength to try to keep the result. In the 35th minute, Silva appeared on Cristiano’s back after a high ball, headed towards the middle and Racalde went up alone to open the scoring.
The scenario of the second half was the same as the first. Olimpia kept going up and scored. After the ball was raised in the area, Fábio defended, but Walter González took advantage of the leftovers to hit a cross. Paiva threw himself on the ball and swung the net to take the game to penalties. David Braz even took a ball almost over the line in stoppage time.
In the penalties, the goalkeeper Gaston Oliveira took the penalties of Willian Bigode and Felipe Melo in the first charges. André even scored his own, but Fábio was unable to defend any penalty from the Paraguayan team, who ended up winning 4-1.
